German-based Cuban William Scull (23-0, 9 KOs) became the IBF super middleweight world champion with a unanimous decision win against Russia’s Vladimir Shishkin tonight at the Stadthalle in Falkensee, Germany. The three judges scored the fight: 116-113, 116-112 and 115-113.
The vacant title would be on the line due to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez relinquishing one-quarter of his undisputed title. However, the fight saw little action until the final round with both men struggling to find a way to seriously damage each other.
The first round began cagey, a theme that would follow through the majority of the bout, with Shishkin on the front and Scull happy to largely work hesitantly on the back foot. The second round would begin with Scull landing a glancing right hand to the top of Shishkin’s head, but he would revert to his cagey approach for the rest of the round. Round three continued much the same, with Scull landing the odd flicking jab from a low guard.
Shishkin continued to press forward on the front foot, but his jab was largely ineffective due to the elusiveness of Scull with the Russian’s jab usually being blocked by the guard. Scull would land a smart uppercut to close the round. Round five saw Shishkin’s pressure start to pay dividends as the jab started to find its way to discomfort the Cuban. Shishkin’s success would force Scull into action late in the round, putting together a pair of combinations to ease the constant oncoming attack to close the round.
The two men traded to start the sixth, with Shishkin’s size advantage now slowing down the home fighter as he would land a strong left-right combination. However, the pace slowed again. It would continue into the seventh, with Scull working mainly to avoid the Russian attack. The eighth and ninth rounds were almost identical, but Shishkin was now managing to avoid the jab of Scull and was looking to be the better fighter.
Scull landed a right to the head to open round ten, following up with another powerful right 30 seconds later. The action would again slow down until Shishkin landed his own overhand right. The action picked up in the eleventh, but both men failed to find a home for the jab. Scull would land a smart right uppercut while the two men were tied up, stiffening the legs of Shishkin.
The twelfth and final round saw more than the rest of the flight put together. Shishkin pounced in the opening seconds to land a right hand that would rock Scull, forcing him to hold on for safety while also dropping his mouth guard. Shishkin pressed hard as the fight resumed, but Scull would see the final bell on terribly unsteady legs to become the newscast belt holder at 168 pounds.
Undercard Results
On the less-than-eventful undercard, Dusan Veletic (9-1-1, 5 KOs) defeated Tomas Salek (22-6, 13 KOs) over the ten-round distance to claim the German heavyweight title. The judges scored the fight: 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93. Paul Wall (8-1-1, 5 KOs) would also claim a seventh-round knockout victory against Nourdeen Toure (12-3, 6 KOs).
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